Good for You: A Novel by Camille Pagán

Author:Camille Pagán [Pagán, Camille]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2023-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-ONE

“Argh,” groaned Aly. Her head was pounding. Where was she? And what time was it?

Oh. Fragments of the day before came back to her as she sat up and squinted in the bright morning light. She’d slept right through the afternoon and all the way through the night, which was probably the only reason she was semifunctional.

What had happened before she’d fallen asleep? As she peered at her puffy eyes and tangled hair in the bathroom mirror, she was forced to admit that she could only remember so much. There was the call with James; then Wyatt, being so nice to her; and their little jaunt to the beach; then him carrying her into the house . . .

Everything after that had vanished.

Her pulse quickened as she splashed water on her skin. Even if nothing were wrong with her—and obviously, there was—she’d made it worse by pumping toxins directly into her system. Maybe it was time to see a neurologist or a psychologist. Probably both.

She changed out of yesterday’s clothes, which smelled of booze and just a hint of beach, and pulled on a clean shirt and pair of shorts. When she got downstairs, she found Wyatt sitting cross-legged on the counter.

“Morning,” he said, lifting his mug to greet her. This was an unusual turn of events—him, practically perky, while she felt like a human rainstorm. “How are you feeling? Back on the wagon today, I assume?”

She blushed. “If by ‘on the wagon’ you mean never drinking again, then yes. Um . . . I don’t remember going to bed last night.” It was so mortifying to admit it, but she had to, in case she’d done something she needed to know about.

“You mean yesterday afternoon,” he said with a wry smile.

“Uh, yeah. Did I do anything . . . you know. Stupid?”

Wyatt looked away, just for a moment, and her stomach sank. What had she done? “You honestly don’t remember? I should’ve cut you off sooner.”

“I think something might be wrong with me,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry if I embarrassed myself.”

He met her eyes. “You didn’t embarrass anyone. And nothing’s wrong with you.”

She shook her head. “Obviously that’s not true. First, I completely block out an argument with my coworkers. Now this?” She did not volunteer that this had happened to her when she was younger because—well, this was different.

He set his mug down and folded his arms over his chest. “Let’s be clear—these are two separate things. You drank enough to black out, which is a pretty common phenomenon, however unpleasant. The situation with your coworkers is completely unrelated.”

“How so?”

“I did a little research after you told me what happened.”

He was hesitating; his shifting gaze told her so. “What is it? You don’t have to tiptoe around me.”

“You’re right—I’m sorry. It’s just that . . . I read that memory loss after an argument or a super stressful situation is usually a sign of post-traumatic stress disorder.”

“PTSD?” she said, incredulous. “That’s ridiculous. I haven’t been through a war or something.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.